Terry

My wife and I have just booked our first cruise on the Grand Princess Western Carribean sailing. Since I have never done this before, I am unsure as to what to do with regard to excursions on Grand Cayman, Majahaul, and Cozumel. Would it be best to book from the Princess supplied choices, or go it alone and make seperate arrangements when in port?

Amy

Terry-<BR>Many people won't agree with me.....but on the 2 cruises that we have done, we have always gone through the ship for our excursions. Reason being that we are unfamiliar with these ports of call and want the security of going through the ship. We use cruises and excursions as a way of visting several different destinations at a reasonable price. We then decide what destinations we liked best and go back for longer visits. Then we get the chance to soak up the local atmosphere, etc....<BR>We have had some very good excursions and some mediocre excursions. At no time have we ever felt unsafe.<BR>Have fun!<BR>Amy

Greg

Greetings Terry,<BR>Good question. I’m sure most cruisers would agree there is some element of greed involved with “Shore Excursions” booked through your ship. And we have all heard the stories of the small island tour operators getting ripped off by the cruise lines. Having said all that, it really depends what you are looking for at each stop on your itinerary. Our experience includes both ship sponsored and self-initiated excursions. The key is knowing something about the island/port you’re visiting before you get there, and deciding what you want to do/see. On a recent stop in Nassau on New Providence Island we wanted to see a few of the resorts we had stayed at many years before, as well as visit Paradise Island/Atlantis. The ship didn’t offer anything to suite us. We hired a taxi on the dock and had an excellent tour for $30 less than anything comparable offered by the ship. If in a port you haven’t had time to research, the good ol’ ‘round-the-island’ tour, which comes in many flavors of vanilla, may not be a bad idea. Cruise ships will subtlety steer you away from private tour operators, but we have never had a bad experience with them. Just be sure to get an agreement on where your're going sand the price before settin off.<BR>Cheers<BR>Greg<BR>

Paul Therault

Hi Terry,<BR><BR>You received excellent advice from the above two posters. I may add you should, on your first cruise, take a ship's tour. The tours are a tad more expensive but unless you are travel savy, it is the safest.<BR><BR>I know many passengers who have missed the ship doing their own thing. Each one stated it didn't bother them in the least .... just part of the adventure.<BR><BR>Paul

Terry

Thank you all for your helpful comments. Now I have another Question. The Princess website does not give detailed descriptions of what the excursions entail. It is just generic descriptions like "Grand Cayman Island Highlights" or "Island Highligts and Stingray City". Is there someplace the give a little more information...especially since I want to book these as early as possible?<BR><BR>And while I am in here, can somebody indicate how small the showers truly are in the stateroom? I have heard some real horror stories, so I want to be prepared.<BR><BR>And thanks again for all of the helpful responses.

Peter

There you go again Paul. I'm watching you and every time you sing your song about people missing the ship because they arranged their own excursions, I'm going to post this reply. <BR><BR>All you people out there that Paul is talking about that missed the ship - ATTENTION!!!!! Please post a reply so you can be accounted for. Paul says there are "many" that he knows personally, so lets get to counting.<BR><BR>Again, for the record people, Paul is somehow connected to the cruise lines and they make as much, if not more money on the excursions they sell you as the cruise itself. They will try to scare you into taking their overpriced excursion by telling you that they won't wait for you if you're detained. It just doesn't happen that much folks!

shell

We took ship excursions our first time as I am leary of traveling alone in strange ports. Even though a little more expensive we really enjoyed it. We received a book about Princess excursions about 45 days prior to sailing that gave detailed explanations on each tour. You can book these prior to trip or on the boat where the excursion desk can give greater detail. However I do know a lot of people who go it alone and have a blast. the showers on the Ocean Princess were just fine, more than enough room, WAY better than those on Norweigan. It's good enough for a shower for 7 days. Have a blast!

Dawn Ct

My best and worst excursions have been cruise ship excursions. We just returned from the S. Carribean on the Galaxy. In St. Thomas, I booked the Buck Island sailing/snorkeling for $38 pp. through the ship. There were six passengers on a beautiful sail boat, excellent snorkeling and the sail alone would have been worth it. On St. Kitts we booked the kayaking/snorkeling tour. It was awful, as was the catamaran/snorkeling tour on Aruba. After the Aruba snorkeling, we found our own tour for $10 pp, it was great. Tiami Catamaran tour in Barbados, we booked on our own, it was wonderful. The best suggestion is to talk with other people who have used vendors that you are considering and decide that way. I haven't met anyone who has used Peat Taylor in Jamaica and not been very pleased.

Paul Therault

Hi Terry,<BR><BR>Shell is correct. Princess mails you a booklet with all the tours described in detail along with the prices and sheets for you to fill out for the times and tours you wish to take. You can mail or fax them into Princess in advance and your tickets will come to your stateroom.<BR><BR>Paul

Lydia

Hi Terry,<BR>My husband and I have taken 17 cruises and for a first time I would highly recommend that you book your shore excursions through the ship.<BR><BR>We cruised the Western Carribean a year ago last December. We are not scuba divers or other deep water babies so we didn't book shore excursions for Grand Cayman nor Cozumel. We walked around town and took in the sights, and had a wonderful time doing that and shopping.<BR>Never been to Majahaul.<BR><BR>You don't want to chance missing your ship or being ripped off by a guide or feel uncomfortable in a place that you are unfamiliar with.<BR><BR>True, you may be dissatisfied with some of your excursions but at least you will be escorted and feel safe.<BR><BR>I agree with Amy and Paul.<BR><BR>Have a wonderful cruise.<BR>

julie

Alot of 'herding' goes in to an excursion, but Princess does it, by far, the best, in my opinion. We went around S. America in October (of course, it was pretty soon after 9/11) but the excursions were boring, long bus rides into the country, lots of waiting in lines, and little or no chance to be amongst the locals. My advice is to just pick and choose carefully. Sometimes we rented a taxi with another couple and had a great experience.

Cathy

Hi Terry!<BR><BR>Whether or not to book through the ship depends on your temperament and the port of calls you are visiting. <BR><BR>I always do lots of research before any trip. For me, part of the fun of traveling is the planning and the anticipation. <BR><BR>Great guide books, web sites such as this one plus tourist bureaus will have information on private vendors. Remember, there is NOTHING magical about booking through the ship. The ship simply contracts with companies in the various countries to run tours for them. Often you can find comparable companies that will run the same tour or better for a fraction of the cost. These companies make a living on tourists and I have never heard of one or experienced a private tour that has caused people to miss the ship. People have missed the ship when they are totally on their own (rental car breaks down, get drunk and lose track of time) or when they fail to research a location and go off with an unlicensed taxi driver. <BR><BR>I almost always book my own tours. The only time I book a ship excursion is when the excursion is not offered by any other company at the location, or to book a private tour would be too expensive or bothersome. Grand Cayman is very safe and easy to book your own excursion. If you snorkel, Captain Marvin is excellent. Cozumel is another location where you could easily do on your own.<BR><BR>However, Majahual is relatively new to tourism. Places like Majahual, Belize, Costa Rica are places where I would take the ships tours, simply because they may not have lots of established private tour operators and the area or country is relatively undeveloped, and doing things on your own may actually be more expensive.<BR><BR>

Patrick

You can also download some or all of the tour brochures from the Princess website.<BR><BR>Pat.

lady

many do miss the ship's sailing but consider this scenario!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<BR><BR>You are out doing your own thing, someone is injured, the ship sails and has no liability since you were on your own!!! Then what? The Line has no liability, nothing you can do!

overlitigious

Lady, you're out doing your own thing and you are still concerned about someone else's liability for your actions??? Do you ever take responsibility for yourself? This country is in pitiful condition when vacationers make every move based on whether that can sue someone else.

Peter

Lady - I can't resist when I see in print words like you wrote - "many do miss the ship's sailing". Where are you getting the information that "many" are missing the ship. Many, to me, means that on a ship of 2,000, 50 would miss the ship.

Poptart

I have seen people get hurt on ships excrursions, and the ship still does NOT assume liability. I have seen people slip and fall down boulders at Dunn's River. People slip and fall around the hot tubs and pools. On the Cruise Critic board, someone reported that a woman got her teeth knocked out while on the America's Cup ship shore excursion in St. Martin. Ship did nothing to pay medical bills and the ship sailed on while she stayed in the hospital on St. Martin.<BR><BR>Any activity you do involves risk, and the informed consumer has done their homework and is aware of the risk. Just because you take a ship excursion does not make the ship liable.<BR><BR>Viva independence!